Northeast Florida brothers display drive to preserve racing history

Jon M. Fletcher

Monday

Sep 26, 2011 at 12:01 AM

Two years ago, brothers Tom and Jerry Smith's collection of racing and automotive artifacts had grown so large that they thought it a shame that more people couldn't see and enjoy it. So they decided to build a 3,000-square-foot building next to their auto body shop on U.S. 301 north of Starke to serve as a museum free and open to anyone who would appreciate it.

With upward of 10,000 items from old oil cans to complete race cars, they attribute the start of the collection to their dad, the late Harold Smith. The mechanic and weekend racer had racing in his blood - or, more accurately, his blood was in racing. He volunteered as a blood donor over multiple days for Lee Petty after a 1961 crash in Daytona left the racing legend hospitalized and in need of Smith's blood type. Smith's blood donor card with Lee Petty listed as a recipient now sits in a display case next to his old trophies and helmets in his sons' museum as one of their most prized possessions.

"He carried that card until the day he died," Tom Smith said.

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